Truss



June 26, 1934. L. D. GANDION TRUSS Filed Nov. 27, 1951 INVENTOR. 4001s 0 Gama/on.

Wm C0 ATTORNEYS.

Patented June 26, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 1 Claim.

My invention relates to improvements in trusses, and it consists of the combinations, constructions and arrangements hereinafter described and claimed.

An object of my invention is to provide a truss in which the arm supporting the pad is annealed at a place adjacent to the pad so that the arm can be manually bent into the desired angular position for causing the pad to properly con- 0 tact with the body and to keep the inguinal canal closed. The pad is adjustable along a slot which is formed by the arm which is bent back upon itself and which has its free end welded or otherwise secured in place.

A further object of my invention is to provide a device of the type described in which an auxiliary pad is provided with an enlarged surface that contacts with the body and this pad is positioned for causing the hernia pad to exert a force at right angles to the inguinal canal.

Still a further object of the invention lies in the provision of a metal strip that is inserted in the belt, this metal strip being bendable into the desired shape and holding its shape for preventing side slipping of the truss and relieving certain parts of the body from pressure. The strip is adjustable within predetermined limits within the belt.

Other objects and advantages will appear in the following specification, and the novel features of the device will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing forming a part of this application,

in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of the device; Figure 2 shows the device applied to a body; Figure 3 is a top plan view of the belt showing the device applied to the body;

Figure 4 is a front elevation of the belt; and

Figure 5 is a section along the line 55 of Figure 4.

In carrying out my invention, I provide a hernia pad 1, that is secured to an arm 2 by 5 means of a screw 3. The arm 2 is bent back upon itself and has its free end 4 welded for forming a slot 5 in which the screw 3 may slide.

The end of the arm 2 has a button 6 which is designed to be removably received in any one of i0 a plurality of openings 7 in a belt 8.

The arm 2 is partially encased in a leather protector 9 and has a portion looped as at 10 and a second portion looped as at 11. A leather pad 12 encloses the loop 11 while the protector 9 5 is enlarged at 13 for enclosing the loop 10. The

portion 13 has its edge out at 14 for receiving a tape 15. This tape is passed between the two layers of the portion 13 and around the loop 10.

In like manner, the pad 12 has an opening 16 between its two layers and a second tape 17 is passed between the two layers and around the loop 11. The free ends of the tapes 15 and 17 are secured to the belt 8.

The belt 8 is formed of two layers 18 and 19 as clearly shown in Figure 5, and these layers 06 form a pocket for slidably receiving a metal strip 20. Figures 1 and 4 show the belt 8 as having openings 21 therein for removably receiving a button 22 carried by the metal strip 20; in this way, the strip is adjustable along the length of the belt.

Figure 3 shows how the belt 8 may be bent into the desired shape for preventing side slipping of truss and relieving a portion X of the body from pressure. Very often in wearing a truss, the constant rubbing of the belt on the body will irritate the body and finally cause sores to develop. Pressure can be relieved adjacent to the irritated portion of the body by bending the metal strip 20 in the manner shown. The strip is strong enough to hold its shape after once being bent.

Figure 2 shows how the truss is applied to the body and it will be noted that the abdominal wall is indicated at 23 and that the inguinal canal is indicated at 24. The protector 9 will encircle one side of the body while the belt 8 will encircle the other side although the latter is not shown in Figure 2. The portion 13 will contact with the gluteous muscle of the back, while the leather pad 12 will contact at a lower position and a line drawn from the hernia pad 1 to the leather pad 12 will be seen to extend at right angles to the inguinal canal. In this way, the canal is kept properly closed so that healing can take place.

The tapes l5 and 17 are adjustably secured to the belt 8 by buckles 25. One of the features of the invention lies in the fact that although the arm 2 is tempered, the portion of the arm positioned adjacent to the loop 5 is annealed so as to be bendable into various annular positions. A person can adjust the exact angle he wishes the pad 1 to assume with respect to the arm 2. In addition, the pad 1 is adjustable along the slot 5. It should further be noted that the pull of the belt 8 is upon the arm 2, and not upon the hernia pad 1.

While I have shown only the preferred form of my invention, it should be understood that various changes or modifications may be made adjustably secured to the unannealed end adjacent the annealed portion of the member and being disposed directly across from the lower of the two first mentioned pads, a flexible strap extending between the ends of the member, and a metal strip adjustable in this strap and being bendable into the desired shape for spacing a portion of the strap from the body.

LOUIS D. GANDION. 

